Making Room for the Babies

We had an ugly, misshapen olive tree on one side of our house. It was so ugly that the pictures taken of this house when it was listed for sale conveniently cut out the garage and the tree that should be on the left. Hmmm?

In honor of our year anniversary in the house or actually, more like--Happy Mother's Day to ME! --I got my beautiful baby citrus trees in exchange. With the help of a water pick to soften the soil, a chainsaw, a shovel, the neighbor and his F350, a sturdy chain, various other tools (owned or borrowed) Mark's long hours of hard work and nice neighborly or brotherly help, the beast was removed. I should have taken a before picture. But here we are with the branches cut off and the chain that leads to the truck:

Before the stump and roots were yanked up the boys and I sat outside on the lawn watching Mark and the neighbor as they sawed the top of the tree off. We were enjoying the best strawberries Dallin's ever had in his whole life ("They're so SMOOTH and SWEET!"). And when the tree was down to a stump Dallin was excited: "Now, when I get old I can sit on the stump!" This thought inspired, of course, by this book:But then the thought was dashed when the stump was coldly ripped out of the earth. No, just kidding, Dallin thought that part was cool too. After the stump was out we were left, well, stumped (come on). What were we going to do about the tentacled monster sitting in our front yard? Mark figured he'd have to saw it apart piece by tedious piece in order to fit it into a trash barrel (or even behind our back fence). Fortunately, a neighbor was generous enough to offer his services: the lift on the back of his work truck to dump it into the trailer he will take to the dump. Aaaah. I love good neighbors. Thanks Jim and Greg--and Jim's brother, don't forget him.

Next step--we picked out some baby citrus trees and Mark and his brother Ryan planted them on the side of the house. Later we had another helper, my sister's husband Daryl, who helped with the wells around the trees. Very much a fulfillment of my childhood dreams to have citrus trees in my yard. I am looking forward to my boys watching the trees grow and eventually enjoying their fruit. We had a lot of hands in this project and we feel so grateful for great family and neighbors.

We even bought the boys their own shovels so they could help plant the trees. They did help-- at least long enough to snap a couple of pictures.

And here are the fraternal twins: Tangie and Tangela.There turned out to not be room for little Ruby with her sisters. She's in the backyard. But she has some nice neighbors right over that wall there to keep her company.

Next up, making room for the real baby. Only nine weeks left!

Yikes!